May 2026 • Nebraskaland 47
The author celebrates his first
pike on the fly as his son, Blake,
lands the fish.
In the late 1970s when I was 8-12 years old,
my dad was working for Central Public Power
and Irrigation District as a civil engineer.
During the summer, he would take me to
his office on the top of the dam at Lake
McConaughy. As soon as I got out of the car,
I'd scurry down to the face of the dam and
the rocks next to the spillway and boat dock.
I would spend the entire day fishing and
combing the shores for lost lures.
I once found a f luorescent orange Rapala wedged
underneath a pizza box-sized flat rock. As I flipped it over,
three crawdads took off. One of them went directly toward
the deeper water of the lake. Instantly, a huge smallmouth
snatched it as it fell to the depths. The light bulb went off.
I then spent my days flipping rocks and trying to catch
those 2- to 3-inch crawdads. I found a method of putting
them on a single hook with no weight and casting them
into the dark shadows that were in between the boulders on
the shore. As a kid, I imagined the crawdads yelling, "Help
me, help me" as they disappeared into the darkness below.
Within seconds, my line would thunk, and I would try to
wrestle in one of these spectacular fish. More times than not,
they would snap my line before I could get them onto shore.
This was how my Lake McConaughy fishing education
began, and it hasn't stopped since.
Dad and I were diehard walleye tournament anglers in
the 1990s and 2000s, even placing in the top 10 several
times. He also guided on the lake for 10 years. For me, I was
a walleye-all-the-time type of fisherman. But as my boys
grew up they wanted to catch other fish, and we found
ways to do just that.
Some days we'd try to catch a bass slam — wiper, white
bass, smallmouth and a largemouth. On other days we'd
target channel catfish on the dam throwing Rat-L-Traps or
pull out the fly rods and cast for smallmouths with poppers,
wipers on scroungers or carp on white rabbit fur - also known
as "puke" — flies. Variety became the name of the game.
Despite having more than 50 years of experience fishing
Lake Mac, I'm well aware that many of you may have
limited knowledge at this lake or might be fishing it for the
first time. These words are for you.
Story and photos by Doug Steinke
